Tim Brown’s Case for the Hall Of Fame in Tight 2015 Class
Oakland Raiders great Tim Brown is once again a finalist for the Hall of Fame. Five years in a row, Brown has been snubbed entry into Canton.
Maybe the sixth time will be the charm.
Brown’s attempts to be enshrined have fallen short because of the logjam amongst wide receivers, with Jerry Rice, Cris Carter and Andre Reed all gaining entry before Brown.
Now that those receivers have made their way into Canton, Brown and Marvin Harrison (first attempt in 2014) are the only wideouts on the ballot.
Other notable finalists include Jerome Bettis, Orlando Pace, Junior Seau and Jimmy Johnson, among others. A full list can be seen here.
Missing out on the Hall of Fame hasn’t been easy on Brown, and he understands that the competition is steep.
"“I was feeling good until I saw that final list last night,” Brown said in an interview with 95.7 FM’s John Lund and Greg Papa. “There are some great players in the group, including several first-ballot guys. It’s never easy to get in the hall of fame, and this year won’t be any different. We’ll see what happens. My only hope and prayer is that, if they put a receiver in, that they put the ‘80s in and not the 90s guy so we can move on with this process. We’ll see what happens.”"
Taking a closer look at Brown’s case for the Hall of Fame, his resume is littered with worthy accomplishments.
9-time Pro Bowl selection, 7-time All-Conference, member of the NFL 1990’s All-Decade team.
At the time of Brown’s retirement, he racked up 14,934 receiving yards, the second-highest total in NFL history. In the ten seasons since his retirement, Brown still ranks sixth all-time in this category.
He also retired third all-time in receptions with 1,094 and tied for third with 100 touchdown catches. Brown is still currently fifth in receptions and seventh in touchdowns.
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Brown also gained 3,320 punt-return yards (sixth most in NFL history), and an additional 1,235 yards returning kickoffs. He accumulated a total of 19,679 all-purpose yards, ranking him fifth among the NFL’s all-time leaders to this day.
He scored 105 total touchdowns (100 receiving, 1 rushing, 3 punt returns, 1 kickoff return) over the course of his career. Brown is the only player ever to retire in the NFL’s top five leaders for both receiving and return yards.
That’s a Hall of Fame worthy resume, and his accomplishments don’t stop there:
- Brown set NFL a rookie-season record for most combined yards gained with 2,317. He set the NFL record for most consecutive seasons with 75 receptions, with 10.
- NFL record for most consecutive seasons with at least five touchdowns scored, with 11. NFL record for most consecutive games with at least once reception, with 147, a streak took place over 10 seasons.
- Brown also was an ironman, setting the NFL record for most consecutive starts for a wide receiver, with 176. He’s also only player to have 1,600 receiving yards against four different teams (Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers, Seahawks).
All of this is impressive, but what makes his numbers even more impressive, is that by Brown’s count, he caught passes from 22 different quarterbacks over the course of his career.
"“I think I had 19 different quarterbacks with the Raiders and three with Tampa Bay,” Brown said. “I may be one or two off, but I know it’s no more.”"
Taking a closer look at those quarterbacks, only Rich Gannon and Jeff Hostetler were ever elected to a Pro Bowl.
Brown arguably has done more with less, than any other receiver in NFL history.
These numbers are favorable when listed alone, but they also stack up with other players who’ve been elected to the Hall of Fame.
Looking at Andre Reed, for example, Brown has Reed edged in nearly every statistical category, including receptions, yards, touchdowns, 1000-yard seasons and pro bowls.
In fact, Brown edges most Hall of Famers outside of Jerry Rice in many of these categories.
He has a legitimate case as the second best wide receiver of all-time, yet he isn’t in the Hall of Fame. Hopefully, that changes this year.